Practical Tips for Productive Living

post written by: Marc Chernoff

8 Things You Should Fight for Every Day

1. Personal greatness.

Easy goals don’t exist. A goal is a point of achievement that requires effort and sacrifice. There are no esteemed ventures worth participating in that don’t require some level of effort and struggle.

Decades from now when you’re resting on your deathbed, you will not remember the days that were easy, you will cherish the moments when you rose above your difficulties and conquered goals of magnitude. You will dream of the strength you found within yourself that allowed you to achieve what once seemed impossible.

2. Honesty and truth.

Personal transformation and growth can be remarkably rewarding, but only when the process of change is based on honesty and truth. When you’re not being authentic somewhere in your life or with someone in your life, any attempt at transformation eventually leads to anger and frustration. The truth always creeps back up on you; it does not cease to exist when you ignore it.

Being fake about any aspect of your existence slowly digs a dark void in your soul. Life will simply not work for you if you don’t show up as YOU. The truth may not be easy to deal with, but it will always set you free in the end. Read The Four Agreements.

3. A mind free of envy and jealously.

Envy and jealousy are costly diseases; you simply can’t be yourself within their confines. When you give in to them, the price you pay is steep – a bad mood, an unproductive mind, an inferiority complex, and a chronic migraine headache.

Being envious of what someone else has is like drinking poison and waiting for it to somehow improve your situation. Likewise, tearing someone else down in your jealous mind only tears you down in real life. Rather than devastating yourself with contemplations of things you don’t have or don’t want to happen, think for a second about what you do have, what you do want going forward, and what you can do right now to make progress with the realities you face.

4. Positive change.

When you’re in a situation you don’t want to be in, the prospect of making any change at all can be very appealing. Yet, unfocused change for the sake of change won’t necessarily bring you forward. When you use your time and energy to make a change, be sure it’s a change that will not only move you away from where you are, but will also move you to a better place.

Realizing that you need to make a change can be a great source of motivation, but in order for this motivation to create positive change, you must apply it toward creating things of value. Don’t fight against what you don’t want; create what you do want. Don’t punish those who have caused you pain; let go and focus on something new that soothes your pain. Don’t focus on what you are running away from; give your attention to the great things you want to create in your life.

5. A willingness to learn from mistakes.

One mistake does not have to rule your entire life, and it can’t unless you let it. This hour is a brand new hour with no faults in it yet. Think about your mistakes and learn from them, but don’t attempt to carry their weight around with you.

The road to success is littered with mistakes. Avoiding them is impossible. The thing that will ultimately define your success or failure will not be how many mistakes you make, but how you handle them all. The bottom line is that all mistakes die quickly, but you can’t live beyond what you know today if you aren’t willing to make mistakes and forgive yourself for them. Read The Untethered Soul.

6. Persistence and patience.

Before you give up, think about how unfortunate it would be if the results you have worked to achieve required just a tiny dose of additional effort. How disheartening would it be if the train you’ve been waiting for arrived five minutes after you walked out of the station? Not only does success require diligent effort, it requires persistence and patience.

Rest when you are tired, but don’t quit. You never know what’s just around the corner. It could be everything you’ve been working for, or it might be just another mile marker on your journey. Either way, when you keep putting one foot in front of the other, one day the next step you take will be the one that carries you to your goal.

7. True love.

There is no soul mate out there who will solve all your problems. There is no love at first sight that lasts without work and commitment. But there is someone out there worth fighting for. Not because they’re perfect, but because they’re imperfect in all the ways that are right for you. You compliment each other’s flaws in a way that allows your two spirits to unite and operate more efficiently as one.

8. Goodwill.

There is no greatness or peace of mind where there is betrayal of your own goodwill. Always aim at complete sincerity of your thoughts, words and deeds. If it is wrong, don’t do it. If it is untrue, don’t repeat it.

Do what you do because you believe it’s the right thing to do. Do the right thing even when nobody is looking. Be one of the people who make a true difference in the world by leaving it a little better and more wholesome than you found it.

35 Comments

I would add something to number 5 though. Not only is everything that happens, including mistakes, a learning experience, it all works out for your greater good. I do believe there’s a purpose to what happens to us, and all of those things (positive and negative) serve to move us closer to our best selves if we let them.

Great list you two! We must fight each day for patients. Patients for ourselves, to give ourselves the time and space to grow into our greatness. And patients for others as they become all they were born to be.

The most important thing about this post is that these are all things we have within us - things we have total control over. A brighter future, thus, is not something which our luck or social conditioning or environment hands over to us; it is something that we fight for with our choices every day.

The first line of this post was the best one for me - Everything worth winning is worth fighting for - Its so true. Also wanted to add one more point from my personal life experience:

The hard work needed to listen to your inner voice when there is so much inaccurate advice and commentary coming from your surroundings - sometimes you have stop listening and follow your own instincts to achieve your dreams and goals.

Hi Marc and Angel,
Well I am going through the worst patch of my life. It’s like struggling between family and love. I do not know whether to follow my own instincts or what my family wants for me…
Your post gives me a little extra strength to cope with this phase of my life.
Thank you…

Just: Thank you. I started reading your information because I work with hospitalized psychiatric pts doing group therapy. Sometimes I need some direction when the group is stagnant. However, I have found more inspiration here for me personally than what I actually use in my work! Such “common sense” and refocusing on the simple: what I CAN do rather than what I can’t.
Thank you for your simple but profound words.

That was a great read. I was interested from the moment I saw the samurai like pic haha. We all should be fighting for the right things in our lives, and you guys just summed up what’s important. Thanks for your continued wisdom

First off, let me say that I appreciate you. You have written a marvellous article to live by. I espically liked the point that we don’t have only one soulmate; it seemed totally practical and real. It’s a truth that I sometimes deny. Anyways, stay blessed. And thanks.

I’d like to add something to #7 True Love. Being efficient is one thing, it speaks to HOW you do things. I would add being EFFECTIVE. Like Covey said, efficiency is climbing the ladder well, effectiveness is making sure the ladder is against the right wall. My wife added depth, breadth and length to my life: its always 3 dimensional.

You guys are so great. Any time I see “The Four Agreements” referenced it makes me smile because that book drastically changed my life for the better. The Fifth Agreement is out as well, and it just as powerful. Thanks for the positive post

I’m 16 and been reading your posts for about a year. They really help me out when I’m looking for an answer to something that’s bothering me. I grew up without a father and its hard trying to figure out how to be a young man without guidance. I’d love to meet you one day… so many questions I would ask. I hope that you read my comment.

Thank you Marc and Angel for the wonderful post, you just asked me to rest when I’m tired but not to quite, there is great wisdom in that. May God continue to inspire you with great knowledge. Thank you for making my day stress free.

Awesome post! True Love: Nobody is absolutely perfect in every possible way. We must learn to strive to find those whose imperfections we can deal with and Love unconditionally. Our flaws, psychological tendencies, and mental flaws– all the colors of our personality are what seems to be attracting us time and time again.

Very inspired by your site. I follow on facebook. Definetly reminds me daily to be grateful and thankful for all circumstances. Just went through a divorce with 2 kids and it was helpful to have positive words to keep me going. My friend sent me a link from this site and I’ve been reading it ever since.

You always have the right message for me each day. I find all your posts so inspiring. I wish you would publish a hard copy of your knowledge so that I could pass it on as gifts to others.

If I’ve learned anything in the past few years, it’s that I am stronger than I think. I have been ill for several years and most people thought I didn’t have the strength of character to survive. But I proved to MYSELF that I AM a stronger and better person than I ever thought possible and therefore, more at peace with myself and others. All my life I have been putting myself down, thinking that I did not measure up to anyone’s hopes or standards. My illness helped me to realize that I am a much better, stronger, spiritual, accepting, loving, person than I ever imagined. My inner strength PLUS your beautiful and valuable lessons have helped me become a better person to myself and to others. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

“Personal greatness”, “positive change”, and “persistence and patience” are my current mantras. This year I’ve really started to focus on making this life the best it can be. Each of those three areas are ones that I’ve fought with for years and only now am I truly making some headway. We all need to believe in our own abilities and this post helps clarify those things that help move us ahead in life.